Is Vitamin E a Preservative?
It is important to us to educate our customers, friends and anyone just wondering about the truth in natural skin care.
There are many myths regarding preservatives and what constitutes a preservative. Below is some information on Vitamin E
What is the difference between a preservative and an antioxidant?
A preservative is WATER-BASED and is used to keep bacteria/mold/mildew/fungi from growing in water.
An antioxidant is OIL-BASED and isused to slow down rancidity in oils.
PRESERVATIVES AND ANTIOXIDANTS ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
A bit more information on preservatives:
Bacteria and fungus need moisture (water) to thrive. While the oils in the scrubs and lip balms can indeed go rancid from exposure to oxygen, they won't "spoil", unless water is added. For those who sell to thepublic, an added preservative is essential, since you have no control over what the customer is going to do with the product once they get it home. In addition to repeatedly dipping their not-so-sterile fingers into the product, there is a very real chance of water being introduced through regular use.
A bit more information on T-50 as an antioxidant:
T-50 is a variety of low alpha tocepherols. Vitamin E is a mix of tocepherols, which prevent the formation of free radicals, which are which cause oxidation and rancidity in oils. Basically, there are four types of tocepherols: alpha, beta, delta and gamma. The alpha ones are the least effective of the four in cosmetic products. That's why T-50 is so good in cosmetic products .. it contains mostly beta, delta and gamma tocepherols, with a low combination of the alpha tocepherols. "Drug store vitamin E", by contrast, is usually mostly alpha tocepherols. It tends to come in two forms ... d-alpha tocepherols, and dl-alpha tocepherols. D-alpha is natural, and dl-alpha is from synthetic sources. With most vitamins, there really and truly is NO difference in efficacy (effectiveness) between synthetic and natural versions of the vitamin. Vitamin E is the exception, though. D-alpha (the natural one) is eight times as effective as dl-alpha (the synthetic one) in preventing oil oxidation.
By the way, T-50 is also much cheaper than "drug store" Vitamin E .. and you will notice that it looks much different from drug store Vitamin E. It tends to be redder and thicker than what you will find in the drugstore.
Another antioxidant commonly used by home crafters is ROE - rosemary oleorosin extract. It is NOT the same as rosemary essential oil and also does not have a heavy rosemary aroma ...
Thank you!
Becky & Nic